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Flags of the Czech Republic and the European UnionPRAGUE, Mar 29The Czech Foreign Ministry announced that it had informed the Russian Embassy in Prague about the recognition of one diplomat as persona non grata. with our allies, we limit the presence of Russian special services in the EU,» the statement published on the Foreign Ministry's Twitter account reads. in connection with the explosions in the warehouses with weapons in the village of Vrbetice, which were allegedly organized by employees of the Russian special services. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of 20 employees of the Czech Embassy in Moscow. From June 1, 2021, the embassies of each of the countries were brought to the strength of seven diplomats and 25 administrative and technical workers. The Russian Foreign Ministry also included the Czech Republic in the list of unfriendly states. Immediately after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Czech government announced the revocation of the permit for the activities of the Russian Consulates General in the cities of Karlovy Vary (in the west of the country) and Brno (in the southeast of the country), 14 diplomats who worked in them left the territory of the republic in early March. In addition, the issuance of visas and temporary residence permits in the Czech Republic for citizens of the Russian Federation has been temporarily suspended. On Saturday, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told reporters that «there is already physically no room for further reduction (the number of Russian diplomats in the Czech Republic), provided that we want to maintain at least elementary diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation, which is necessary for many practical reasons.» According to him, in the current difficult situation, it is necessary to maintain at least a minimum level of communication between both countries.